UFC 148 Reported At 1 Million Pay Per-View Buys

It was dubbed “the biggest UFC fight in history,” and while the long-awaited rematch between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and the boisterous Chael Sonnen was able to shatter a live gate record, it would appear that UFC 100 remains king in the realm of Pay Per-View. While 148 drawing around 1 million Pay Per-View buys is by no means a failure and still a momentous occasion for the promotion, UFC President Dana White is reportedly disappointed that they were not able to top the 1.5 million that UFC 100 posted, according to Dave Meltzer.

Dana, realistically, has little to be upset about as the 1 million mark is a very successful number for the event. While the middleweight title rematch had a lot of steam behind it, one must remember that UFC 100 featured two of the biggest draws in the promotion’s history as Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre, not to mention that both had title defenses on the milestone event.

While the UFC President may not be enthralled with the high number, the current state of the UFC’s drawing power took a hit with Lesnar’s retirement from the sport and GSP sitting out with injury for over a year now. A buyrate of 1 million for Anderson Silva defending his UFC Middleweight Championship against Chael Sonnen is by no means a disappointment, nor should it be looked at that way as drawing those numbers has become increasingly difficult over the past two years.